Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain were the duo chosen to perform the final show before Eden Court closed for its £23 million re-vamp, before being invited back just over two years later to be the first act on stage after the work was done — when Cunningham welcomed the audience back with the characteristic quip: "Did you enjoy your interval?"

Theatre director Colin Marr picked Scotland's premier traditional music double act for the double honour because of their standing as world class musicians, but fiddler Bain and accordion maestro Cunningham also have a long-standing relationship with the Inverness theatre.

"It's without doubt our favourite gig of the year," Cunningham declared of the venue he and Shetlander Bain regard as their "home" show.

"It was great to get back last year. I think the community was missing it and I like to see support being given to venues like that because they are so very important."

Eden Court in particular, he added, was one of the theatres in Scotland which took a risk on traditional music and showed there was an audience there for performers like himself and Aly.

Cunningham, once a local resident with a home and studio at Crask of Aigas near Beauly, and Bain are now in the 22nd year of their musical partnership, though a spot of ill health for Cunningham in May meant the pair had to shelve plans for their latest album.

This does not mean the Hogmanay stalwarts have been idle. Bain took the opportunity of a break in their recording schedule to release a best of retrospective, while Cunningham has found himself going through a prolific patch as composer.

"I'm writing up a storm at the moment," he revealed.

"The tunes are coming fast and furious, so that's always a good thing. Sometimes you're turning them out like buses, other times it's like drawing teeth."

Cunningham has also been occupied with writing of a different sort and one more unusual for the musician.

"I'm working on an autobiography for Birlinn Books in Edinburgh and that's very unusual for me to sit at a typewriter and write things," he announced. "They are very happy for me to write it with someone acting as a mentor, so I'm writing not just about what life has been like in the last 32 years on the road, but how I ended up where I am, doing what I'm doing today. When you sit down and think about it, a lot of it's quite funny in the twists and turns I have taken that I've taken for granted. I'm suddenly finding reasons for things that I had never imagined before."

Nobody who has heard any of Cunningham's anecdotes on stage will be surprised to hear humour will be part of the book — and yes, Cunningham confirms this means at least one appearance by west coast dance band legend Fergie MacDonald.

"You can't live in the world that I've lived in and worked with the people I've worked with and not have a very good and humorous time. I just love it all," he said.

Cunningham is also finding he is entering academic life.

Having been awarded an honorary music Doctorate from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) this summer, adding to similar honours presented by the University of Stirling (in a ceremony held in Inverness) and Glasgow Caledonian University, he is about to take on a new role as the new artistic director of its Scottish traditional music course.

"They've just appointed a new head of music for that, so we will be working together in the next few days so that when I take up the post in October, everybody knows where we are going. I'm looking forward to that. It's a new direction for me," he said.

Cunningham will join the students for a certain number of days each academic year to help them work on set projects. He will also ask the students for an indication of what they really want to learn.

"I think I can be most useful showing them how to skin the cat," he added.

"There are many, many ways to skin the cat when it comes to traditional music and I'd like to expose them to as many different options as possible, while encouraging to dig in with the academic side. The academic side is pretty important in real life. It opens up so many more opportunities, not just as a performer."

As for his latest title, Dr Cunningham sees it as a reward for the efforts of far more supporters of tradition music than just himself.

"I'm so proud that other people think what I have done has been so worthwhile it deserves a Doctor of Music. And I love what it says about the current perception of popular music as well," he said.

"What Aly and I have had over a lot of other musicians is exposure. People see us a lot more and when we receive these honours I'm very aware that I'm accepting it very much on behalf of the work everyone else is doing. Traditional music would be in a very sorry state if it wasn't for the countless people who worked very hard — a lot of them unpaid — to make sure venues stayed open or people being taught and we are damn lucky to have these folk."

These are, he acknowledges, very interesting times for himself and Aly as they move into the second phase of their annual Scottish tour, which will also include an appearance at Drumnadrochit's Craigmonie Centre on 18th September.

As always, they have also been busy with broadcast work and Cunningham spoke to The Courier while on a break from recording the commentary on a new series on religious music for the BBC. This follows on from the success of the six-part series "Scotland's Music" which Cunningham presented last winter.

"Only today I had three different people stop me on the street to tell me how much they enjoyed the series. That happens on a daily basis and it's almost a year since the event," he added.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the BBC will do more programmes like that and better times for trad music."

With all this going on in his life, it seems hardly surprising that Cunningham's long awaited third solo album remains on his to-do list, 19 years after its predecessor "The Palomino Waltz", though the good news for fans is that his solo debut, 1984's "Airs and Graces", is due to be re-released.

"Fingers crossed: next year, solo album," Cunningham said.

"I've said that every year for the past 10 years, but it really has to be done. I've got so much material to put on it. I think the best thing I can do is get someone else to produce it and say: Today's the day — get in!' I'm a terrible procrastinator, just awful, but I will get there. The big priorities for the next 12 months are a solo album and a new album with Aly."

* Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain appear at Eden Court's OneTouch Theatre tomorrow at 8pm.

c.macleod@inverness-courier.co.uk 

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